Arcane artifacts.
Arcane creations.
They possessed all sorts of wondrous effects.
But at their core, tracing them back to their source, they could be simply understood as spiritual artifacts specially made for Arcane Mages.
By constructing a spell model in the Sea of Spirit and refining the required materials with Spiritual Power, one could forge a powerful arcane artifact meant exclusively for the Arcane Mage who made it.
In theory, any Arcane Mage could forge an arcane artifact as long as they had enough materials and sufficient skill.
Duke was not an Arcane Mage yet. He was merely a One-Star Spiritual Apprentice who had not even successfully condensed his energy lines. However, he possessed a companion arcane artifact—the One-Ring Desert Eagle.
Now, with Xiao Yi's powerful abilities, improving the Desert Eagle was not too difficult. His current abilities were more than enough.
"Whew!"
He calmed his mind and steadied his breathing.
He activated the large amount of Spirit Liquid in his Sea of Spirit. Spiritual Power immediately surged from his palm toward the spirit-metal wrapping inside the small paper packet before him. Then, guided by his thoughts, his Spiritual Power resonated with the spirituality within the spirit metal until the two merged into one.
The next second.
The spirit metal in the small paper packet on the table had visibly diminished by a sliver.
At the same time, a faint point of light appeared on the Desert Eagle's energy circuit in his Sea of Spirit. Under Xiao Yi's control, it extended beyond the original fixed energy circuit, reaching a position precisely at the front of the muzzle.
And so.
Every time Duke refined a little spirit metal, another point of light appeared in his Sea of Spirit. Xiao Yi would then control the point of light, condensing it into an energy line and drawing a circuit around the muzzle of the Desert Eagle's structure.
One day, two days.
A full three days passed before Duke finished refining all the spirit metal.
At the same time, Xiao Yi controlled the final point of light and joined it to the circular structural circuit extending from the front of the muzzle.
This new circuit did not exist as an independent ring. Instead, it was a section of circuitry inserted into the original circuit of the Desert Eagle's structure, leaving its One-Ring rank unchanged.
Boom!
When the final point of light sank into place, the Desert Eagle's radiance trembled, as though it were cheering with delight.
Duke's gaze flickered. With a thought, the radiance of the Desert Eagle in his Sea of Spirit suddenly scattered. A silver-gray Desert Eagle pistol then appeared in his hand, its muzzle fitted with a cylindrical suppressor almost as long as the gun itself.
Its black-and-gray exterior bore no excessive embellishment.
Yet it merged seamlessly with the Desert Eagle's own character, adding several degrees of murderous severity.
"Chirp chirp!"
Little Dou stared curiously at the suppressed Desert Eagle.
"It's called the Desert Eagle Version 1.0. It's my secret weapon." Duke gently ran his fingers over the gun's body, itching to fire a shot into the sky and test the suppressor's effectiveness.
But to be cautious, he decided to test it in the wilderness.
He passed easily through the town streets, crossed the vast farms on the outskirts, and headed toward the shrubs in the wilderness.
The Black Snake Family's knights and patrol guards were patrolling the nearby roads. They did not care about Duke coming and going; their main responsibility was guarding against dangerous invasions by spirit beasts and the like.
On the way, Duke also encountered a squad of mercenaries, the emblem of the "Sword Shield Mercenary Group" hanging from their sleeves.
"Hmm, another new Mercenary Group. Looks like the Pioneer War really isn't a rumor..." Duke watched the squad of mercenaries leave and silently mulled it over.
The primeval wilderness held endless resources.
Mercenary Groups were private armed forces that gathered these resources. Many major lineages and powerful factions formed Mercenary Groups and ventured into undeveloped forests to collect all sorts of precious resources.
The Black Snake Family had a Mercenary Group too. It was called the Black Snake Mercenary Group, and it recruited people in Snakehead Town every year.
Even ordinary people could join a Mercenary Group.
After the members of the Sword Shield Mercenary Group had gone far away, Duke quietly headed in another direction. He went deep into the shrubs, then climbed a tree and concealed himself, silently waiting for prey.
"I hope a 1-Ring Spirit Beast comes along so I can unleash my full firepower!" Duke said expectantly.
In truth, there was not much danger left in the forests around Snakehead Town. Mercenaries came and went constantly, having long since carried away every resource worth scavenging.
So after waiting for nearly half an hour,
only a honey badger that could not even be considered a spirit beast quietly appeared within Duke's field of vision.
Although he was somewhat disappointed, Duke did not complain. Holding the gun in one hand, he aimed at the honey badger on the ground. After cultivating battle aura, his strength had increased considerably, surpassing that of a burly adult man. Holding the gun one-handed was more than enough to withstand its recoil.
His finger curled.
He pulled the trigger.
A faint "puff" sounded beside his ear, like the noise of a needle being fired. It was impossible to hear without listening carefully.
The next moment, a spray of blood burst from the honey badger. It dropped dead on the ground without even struggling, dead beyond dead.
"Incredible!"
Duke was overjoyed.
He had thought the suppressor designed by Xiao Yi could only reduce the noise slightly. After all, he had used suppressors at the Falcon Club. A pistol fitted with a suppressor was indeed quieter, but not by much; it was still loud enough to make one's ears ring.
Yet after firing this shot,
he witnessed how the Spiritual Arcana system altered the laws of physics.
A short section of suppressor had actually erased the gunshot completely, truly accomplishing what a "suppressor" was supposed to do.
"An arcane artifact... I shouldn't treat the One-Ring Desert Eagle like an ordinary firearm. It's already an arcane artifact, a creation governed by the laws of this world's Spiritual Arcana system. It follows spirituality, not physics!"
He jumped down from the tree.
He twisted the honey badger's wound with a dagger, wiping away the bullet hole. Then he hoisted the honey badger's corpse and headed toward the town.
On the way, he held the One-Ring Desert Eagle and fired openly for the first time.
Nearly three hundred and sixty drops of Spirit Liquid slowly decreased as the number of shots increased. The rate of depletion was roughly ten drops of Spirit Liquid per shot. That meant he could fire thirty-six shots before becoming completely exhausted.
Puff puff puff...
He fired repeatedly at the ground, sweeping out a row of bullet holes.
Duke's mood grew increasingly bright. "As my Sea of Spirit cultivation advances, the cost of firing will decrease further. By then, Xiao Yi's absorption speed while idling in meditation may even keep pace with the rate at which firing consumes Spiritual Power... In other words, sooner or later, my Desert Eagle will achieve infinite ammunition!"
Infinite ammunition, firing without a sound.
At this moment, Duke had finally mastered a powerful skill that could protect him anytime and anywhere.
"Once the Xiao Yi database expands, I'll be able to continue developing the Desert Eagle and release even stronger versions. By then, I'll be invincible with this Desert Eagle alone!"
Suddenly,
a snake slithered rapidly through a patch of grass beneath his feet.
Duke raised the Desert Eagle in his hand and fired repeatedly. It took more than a dozen shots before he finally hit the snake crawling across the ground. One shot proved fatal, splitting its body into two.
"Whew."
"My marksmanship still needs more practice." Duke smiled faintly and blew at the muzzle, though no smoke or heat had emerged from it.
The farm was already in sight. With a slight shake of his right hand, the Desert Eagle scattered into countless glimmering motes and vanished in an instant, while the dim pistol-shaped radiance in his Sea of Spirit lit up once more.
"Let's head back!"
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